(I pulled the following text from a presentation by Tom Peters…who loves Conrad Hilton and his beliefs on execution.)
EXECUTION - Some Ideas from Conrad Hilton
Execution IS strategy!
Execution is “THE LAST 95%” of success.
Forget competitors: We have met the enemy and he is us … LOUSY Execution!
Execution per se is leader’s EXPLICIT/VISIBLE/ CONSTANT responsibility/obsession.
Execution is a SYSTEMATIC PROCESS.
REALISM is near the heart of execution success.
> half of EVERY presentation should be devoted to Execution/Implementation.
Hire people who obviously “GET OFF ON” the nuts & bolts of execution.
To “do” execution brilliantly means being obsessed with the “people part” of leadership.
Love it or leave it: Execution is about POLITICS!
My current path as someone who focuses on helping leaders build a more focused, powerful and positive workplace culture has its roots in Team Building. While large conference keynotes rarely allow for the opportunity to do something as cool as the Marshmallow Tower exercise, smaller workshops and corporate onsights do. I have both participated in and led literally hundreds of tower building experiences with and without marshmallows. However, when I saw the following video… and the supporting blog site I was excited to share it with you …knowing that many of you would desure to replicate this exerience for your teams.
The supporting blog site link is http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Instructions.html
(note the picture preceeding the video is a variation on the exercise which only allows for 1 large Marshmallow which is to be placed on top).
Remember…the purpose of tower building is team building. Even if the tower fails or falls…. the team can build and stand higher than before.
Seth Godin is one of the people I love to learn from. I twittered this from his blog over the weekend. But for those who don’t have time to twitter..it’s too important to miss. He writes…
Let me guess: check the incoming. Check email or traffic stats or messages from your boss. Check the tweets you follow or the FB status of friends.
You’ve just surrendered not only a block of time but your freshest, best chance to start something new.
If you’re a tech company or a marketer, your goal is to be the first thing people do when they start their day. If you’re an artist, a leader or someone seeking to make a difference, the first thing you do should be to lay tracks to accomplish your goals, not to hear how others have reacted/responded/insisted to what happened yesterday.
Thank you Seth ( www.sethgodin.com) …. he’s great. Speaking of great… how about this guy….
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” –Anthropologist Margaret Mead
Thank you for your many great responses to yesterday’s T4D on “Positive Laws of Living” as many of you responded to the invitation to share your own “Laws for Positive Living. I think they are wonderful, and wanted to pass them along for everyone else to enjoy…and for a bit of fun, and to “BRING BALANCE” I added one of my own at the end…The Law of the Cello.
“The Law of Learning. - The only difference between the truly successful, great, or wise, and those who aren’t, is the gap of ability which is widened or narrowed due to our ability to learn from anyone, anything, anytime. (Thank you Daniel Burns)
The Law of Gratitude. - We are blessed with so many things in our lives, but the speed in which we live often hinders us from pausing just a moment to reflect on these blessings. How great is it to wake up and feel good… to have an assortment of fresh fruit on our
countertops ready for us to enjoy… to have access to any type of information our minds desire… to be so easily and quickly connected with friends and family on a daily basis. How cool is all of this! Personally, this law is at the top of my list because it fuels all of the other laws listed in this T4D. (Thank you Teresa Mount)
The Law of Smiles - -Don’t go through life with a sour look on your face. When the server at a fast food restaurant gives you your
meal and change, give them a smile. When you have a conversation with a co-worker, smile. Even the tensest situations lose some of their edge if the people engaged are smiling. Life’s too short to go through it as a miserable person or causing misery to others. A simple please and thank you accompanied by a genuine smile will brighten anyone’s day. And, when you start doing it, people will reciprocate and give you the same response. And, then your day will be brightened too. (Thank you Dave Collins)
The Law of Wellness- Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Don’t cut your life short by making unhealthy decisions that will affect your physical, mental, and social well being. Lead a
healthy lifestyle and allow yourself to truly enjoy everything life has to offer. (Thank you KATE )
The Law of Action - I would add the Law of Action - life is so very short. We don’t have time to procrastinate. Don’t put off tomorrow what you have the ability to do/try today. We don’t want to leave this world regretting we waited too long to make a move. This includes
something as “small” as telling someone you love them, to something as grand as changing careers, buying a house, or taking a trip.
The Law of the Cello ? (OK not really ) But the other day I came across this wonderful bit by a group who call themselves the Piano Guys. Not that there is even a piano in the clip. I am a bit of a Star Wars nerd…so if you are not you may not enjoy it as much as I did….but I think you will.
T4D subscriber Jeff Davidson shares with us his notes from 21 Laws of Positive Living by Rakesh Mittal:
The Law of Affluence - When the feeling of possessiveness is given up, we do not have to feel impoverished — we can remain in a state of mental affluence all the time.
The Law of Goodness - The greatest dilemma before us is whether or not to follow the path of goodness. Life has become so complicated that some believe there is no point in being good and that good people are generally unsuccessful and unhappy. This belief is strengthened when we see many bad people around us prospering and seemingly very happy.
To understand the law of goodness, first of all one should know the meaning of goodness. Goodness is always an asset. A man who is
straight, friendly and useful may never be famous, but he is respected and liked by all who know him. It is only by doing good to others that one attains one’s own good.
The Law of Patience - Have patience and never doubt your ability to do the things you really want to do. If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
The Law of Courage - There is a time when courage means action and when it means non-action. While courage is required to take the right action at the right time, it is also required not to act when our action may lead to disharmony.
The Law of Humility - A humble person is wonderful to be with, creating happiness wherever he goes and inspiring others to display their best.
The Law of Change -There are winning, as well as losing, moments in life. We tend to welcome the winning moments and ignore the losing ones. But is it fair to do so? Can there be a life with good moments only? Good moments will lose their significance without bad moments. They are there only because of bad moments. Without any of them, there will be no life, or life would be tasteless.
I pulled this photo from a website offering help with anger management called Angermentor.com (I ended up there on my search for a photo to support the quote that follows). The single article associated with this picture was 10 paragraphs long. I think the single following thought by expressed by Lewis B. Smedes easily trumps it in just one sentence.
“Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” -Lewis B. Smedes
For someone like me whose memory just isn’t what it used to be… this looks like a pretty sound way to improve it. Improve your memory….change it!
I did a lot of twittering last week…. I was reading so many good articles and blogs and wanted to pass them along. But not everyone wants six T4D updates a day. But I welcome you to join me on twitter. https://twitter.com/#!/kirkweisler
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation. — Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American Writer
As I have been gearing up for my 2012 goals … many of them look hauntingly like the left over and unaccomplished goals of 2011, 2010 and yes even 2009 ! YIKES These are things I just really need to get done, and I totally believe they can be done…but as yet they have been left undone. There are many reasons for this -some legitimate and all disguised to at least sound legitimate. But in reality most are just clever excuses that I tell myself so I can justify my not taking action while pretending to do the wise or prudent thing.
This year although I’m a bit older… I commit to act younger… and to strive towards something IMPOSSIBLE!! Heck, maybe several things. One promise I will make here and now… you won’t catch me in this T-shirt!
Yesterday I watched this 20 minute video from a TED conference that served to be a great reminder to me. I think the relevant message could be summed up in 3 minutes…but she takes her time getting to it with good reason. (The F-Word) isn’t really what you think…it’s worth watching….i promise.
I came across this Jim Collins video while reading Daniel Pink’s terrific blog and just had to share it here with each of you. I have read time and again that leaders do not motivate people… people must motivate themselves. Ask yourself or your team this question…”Who would you like to be in charge of your motivation…yourself or someone else?” Easy answer right? People must be responsible for their personal motivation.
Then I read other articles like this one from the Harvard Business Review called Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivationwhich basically says that while we can’t motivate, we can de-motivate? http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/5289.html So which is it? I think it’s both…and rather that worry about what I think..let’s see what brainiac Jim Collins has to say to us about it.
Jim Collins - the author of the legendary Good to Great and co-author of the new and equally compelling Great by Choice has an insightful 3-minute video describing three ways organizations demotivate their employees.
Watch it below. Then send a copy to your boss(maybe).
Has something like this ever happened to you? How did it affect you, what did you do?Please let us know at www.kirkweisler.com/t4d (leave your comment and let us learn from your experience).
Some people might be burned out on the whole “New Year resolutions” bit. - But I’m not among those ”some people”. I find the beginning of a new year a time that invites natural reflection on where I am and upon where I want to be. It’s a time for me to refine or resurrect my vision, gather courage and recommit to myself to them. Someone shared these “10 Best” with me… and I really liked them. I’m now working on my own list…but added 1 to this one to get started. I invite you to add your own.
Ten of the Best New Year Resolutions
Written by Unknown
1. Resolve to stay brutally optimistic. See the opportunity in every difficulty and anticipate the most favorable outcome out of every situation. Whatever you look for, that’s what you’ll find. We can get better or we can get bitter; it all depends on the lessons we draw from each experience. Optimism is like electricity - very little happens without it. Know this truth: you have all the resources you’ll ever need to handle all the challenges you’ll ever have. In true emergencies the true you will emerge.2. Resolve to identify the most powerful benefit you offer to the people around you and then deliver it. “The purpose of life,” said George Bernard Shaw, “is a life of purpose.” What’s yours? Where are you investing your personal energy: self-preservation or adding value to others? Here’s the well-being paradox: If you’re only concerned about yourself, you cannot take care of yourself. Only by helping others, can you succeed.
3. Resolve to pump-up your personal vitality. In the game of life, it’s not about who’s right, it’s about who’s left. Over 60 percent of us are more than 36 years old. The real currency of the new century is not cash. It’s vitality. It’s the ability to keep going every day of every week of every month of the year with vigor and verve. All you are to the people around you is a source of energy, and you cannot give what you don’t have. Ninety percent of all adults do no physical exercise at all. More than half of us are overweight. A third of us still smoke. So, this year, resolve to enhance your physical, emotional and mental vitality. Take just a small step. First you’ll amaze yourself, and then you’ll amaze everybody else.
4. Resolve to be habitually generous. Success is not something you pursue. It’s something you attract by what you become. The more you give of yourself, the more favors you attract from others. People have a deep-rooted drive to give back. So resolve to search for ways to contribute to others. Here’s an interesting aphorism: Live life above the line. If the line represents others’ expectations of you, consistently surpass those expectations. You’ll develop what author Ken Blanchard calls “raving fans,” people who become walking billboards for you.
5. Resolve to go on a mental diet. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can scar you for life. It is humans, not elephants, who never forget. So resolve to use the language of conciliation, not the language of confrontation. Avoid the temptation to vent your negativity on others. Instead, use words that express your joie de vivre and connection with others.
6. Resolve to be a global citizen, fully open to the cultures and influences of others. There is a direct correlation between personal well-being and openness to other peoples’ ideas and cultures. If someone has a different point of view, they’re probably right as well. There are no absolutes anymore, so welcome different opinions. Become a one-person champion of plurality. Not only will you make lots of new friends, but you’ll also gather multiple reference points to help you resolve personal challenges.
7. Resolve to take control of your destiny. Don’t be so busy trying to make a living that you forget to make a life. Decide who you want to be and what you want to achieve and then stride boldly toward your vision. The most precious human commodity today is confidence.
8. Resolve to increase your human connectedness. The person with the best connections wins. The wider your network, the more opportunities you generate. It’s all about trust. And it’s all about profile - your presence in the minds of the people who matter. So invest at least 10 percent of your time broadening your sphere of influence. Connect other people to the opportunities within your network: cross-pollinate their potential. When you are with others, make every encounter a pleasurable one. When you listen, truly listen. And burn your fear of rejection.
9. Resolve to increase your creativity by letting go of the familiar. Nothing is as far away as yesterday. Try to see the world through fresh eyes every day. As Salman Rushdie writes, every year is the Stone Age to the year that follows it. Listen to your intuition and follow your instincts, they’ll tell you what to do before your head has had a chance to figure it out. You are a Picasso or Einstein at something. Discover what it is and then develop it to the maximum.
10. Resolve to be you because others are already taken. You and I are at our best when we’re being authentic. We’re at our best when we’re being positively spontaneous, because that’s when all our energy is being invested in the task at hand or with the person in front of us. In a hyper-competitive world, we cannot afford to second-guess ourselves. Success in the new century is all about speed. So act now, because if not now, when?
And the 11th is my own and is inspired in part by this quote. Man has never made any material as resilient as the human spirit. — Bernard Williams (1929-) English Philosopher
11. Resolve to – awaken, inspire the human spirit in our world of work so that individuals, teams and organizations can realize more of their UP (unlimited potential).
This gives me some hope.
